I Got Your Class Warfare Right Here

Sometimes pictures (in this case graphs) are worth a thousand words. See the samples and links to the full article linked to at the end of this post. And as a bonus, a quote at the end from Saint Ronnie Reagan stating his belief in what we now are calling The Buffet Rule, which arose from billionaire Warren Buffett’s suggestion that perhaps he should at least be paying taxes at a rate as high as his secretary.

Take the time to review the graphs and charts in the article, if you are interested in what real class warfare is all about. Yes, Virginia, we are in the middle of a class war. And the super rich and the corporations have already won. They just don’t want you to stop and think about and realize it.

This nation is on the verge of destroying the middle class that was the engine that made the economy work. This nation is on the verge of becoming a nation of 1% haves, and 99% have-nots.

This nation is on the verge of destroying the manufacturing and economic job base that made the economic engine work. The short term wealth acquisition of the few is laying the groundwork for the economic collapse of this nation just a few years down the road.

The philosophy is simple: I got mine, screw the rest of you. You see this every where you turn, e.g. when members of Congress try to sell their efforts to destroy Social Security and Medicare by promising those already on it they won’t lose anything. They honestly think that the successful strategy is to appeal to the most selfish and base instincts, and that their audience will not have a shred of altruism or give a damn about the following generations.

What happened to the desire of each older generation to see that their children were left not only as well as, but better off than the prior?

Such altruism and caring is dead on arrival among today’s so-called leaders.

If you want to see facts, and not talking points and lies, then read this article and look at the simple, clear graphs and charts below.

Some samples images from the article. The first illustrates just where the rise in personal wealth has occurred recently. And it is not among the 95% of the population who are the middle and working class and the poor.

Another illustration of the growing share of income for the super rich.

Go and read the entire article, and examine all the charts. It is devastating. But it is also simple fact. Not lies and talking points spewed by politicians who are owned and operated by the rich and the corporations.

As the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators House Minority Leader Eric Cantor called “mobs” took their protests to cities around the country, Republican frontrunners Mitt Romney and Herman Cain denounced the rallies as “class warfare.” Meanwhile in Washington, President Obama signaled his support for a 5.6% tax surcharge on annual incomes over a million dollars in order to pay for his $447 billion American Jobs Act designed to help alleviate the struggles of the 99% now taking to the streets.

One would think that that the other 1% would be only too happy to help out. After all, even with the wildly popular surcharge beginning in 2013, the tax bite for America’s millionaires would look little different than during the Clinton era (35 percent income tax rate now versus 39.6%; capital gains rate of 15% now versus 20 percent then) when they and almost everyone else enjoyed a booming economy. More importantly, with income inequality at its highest level in 80 years while the federal tax burden is at its lowest in 60, the top 1% has already triumphed in the class war Republicans continue to fight on their behalf.

Of course, all the financial woes of this nation could be solved in less than a decade if we simply let the Bush era tax cuts expire for the wealthy and just let them return to prior levels, just a few percentage points higher. We might also consider actually making the giant corporations pay their fair share, instead of hiding assets in offshore accounts, often resulting (see G.E.) in paying NO TAXES AT ALL! We might consider ending subsidies of oil and other wealthy businesses who are wallowing in profits and cash. Can you say Crony Capitalism Welfare? I thought you could.

Even Alan Greenspan understands this.

Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman and registered Republican, says it’s time to let go of large-scale tax cuts for the wealthy.

“If we do not get Simpson Bowles as a fallback,” Greenspan told CNBC, referring to a large-scale deficit reduction program proposed by the co-chairs of President Barack Obama’s fiscal commission, “I stand with allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. You could do it gradually, whatever. But if we think we have this luxury of waiting for a couple of years with a little stimulus now and then later tightening up. I hope the bond markets are listening.”